Poway Unified officials bracing for busing cuts

All routes to remain in place this year, could change for 12-13

The Poway Unified School District is bracing for budget cuts that could decimate the district’s home-to-school and special education transportation program next school year.

The district, which serves a combined 3,645 students through its home-to-school and special education busing program, is not alone.

As the state waits to see if tax revenues will meet expectations, school districts statewide are looking at midyear cuts of up to $1.9 billion. According to Poway’s projections, the midyear cuts would cost the district about $9.6 million.

About $1 million of that would come out of the district’s transportation budget.

Despite the possible loss of state funding, Tim Purvis, director of transportation for Poway Unified, said the district’s 121 regular routes and 78 special education routes will run as normal for the rest of the 2011-2012 school year.

It’s the next year he’s worried about.

“The alternative in the case that there’s no bus option ... it’s arranged carpools. That’s fine if you can do that and participate,” Purvis said. “But what if you’re a double working parent family or a single working family and you can’t participate?”

While the district cannot legally cut transportation for special education students who require a ride to school, parents with students who do not have that guarantee, as well as those who opt into the home-to-school program could find themselves scrambling to find other ways for their children to reach one of the district’s 36 schools next year.

Students who live far enough away from their schools have the option of paying to ride the bus to campus. Two years ago, parents paid $439 per year for round-trip service for their children. This year, parents pay $575 for the same level of service, a 35-percent fee increase. The higher fee was a compromise between parents and district officials, who were at the time considering cutting the program altogether, Purvis said.

Though the possibility of midyear cuts has been well-publicized — district officials warned the school board in August of the potential drop in funding — Purvis said parents have yet to speak up loudly against what could happen to buses in the long-term.

“It almost concerns me,” Purvis said. “When you think of how large the district is and really what a small percentage we move in regular education, that’s why it’s not on the forefront of their minds.”

Parents in the 36,000-student school district largely drive their children to school. That factor has contributed to slow traffic and long backups in drop-off lines across the district. If state funding for busing is cut, those lines could grow even longer, Purvis said.

There’s a good chance, however, that schools could avoid midyear cuts. Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has said that reductions to schools would only occur if the state brings in $2 billion less than it expects to by Dec. 15. The state controller has now projected a $705 million revenue shortfall for the first three months of the fiscal year.

Still, the district is preparing itself at the urging of the San Diego County Office of Education, said Sharon Raffer, district spokeswoman. Poway Unified is working on its first interim budget report, which will show local revenues and expenditures. Staff members are set to present the numbers to school board trustees Dec. 12, Raffer said.